TEEN SUBSTANCE USE DECLINES IN INDIANA

"Club drug" use stable among high school students

Use of illicit substances continues to decline among Indiana youth,
according to results of an annual survey.

A 2004 survey from The Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Bloomington
asked more than 91,000 students in grades six through 12 about their
alcohol, tobacco and other drug use.

The 14th annual analysis polled 297 state schools, showing a continuation in
the pattern of declining substance usage after it peaked in the mid-1990s.

Certain age groups are using fewer gateway drugs such as cigarettes, alcohol
and marijuana. All grades showed a decline in the use of cigarettes, the
results show.

Smokeless tobacco increased in all grades except 12 and sixth-through
12th-graders are using more inhalants, according to the results.

Brandon Halleck said gateway drugs are usually the focus of prevention
programs because they tend to lead to harder drugs, even though that is not
always the case.

"I find it very hard to believe that kids are going to jump in and say
'let's do heroin,' without testing the boundaries first," said Halleck,
director of a program that teaches youth how to stay safe and prevent
accidents. It's one of several statewide programs through CHANCES for
Indiana Youths, a not-for-profit group for adolescent drug abuse prevention
and treatment.

The survey showed use of club drugs such as ecstasy either stabilized or
declined, but older adolescents reported more usage.

Of Indiana high school seniors, 1.4 percent used ecstasy in 2004, down from
1.6 percent in 2003. The numbers were still higher than the survey's listed
national average of 1.3 percent.

"In other words, older youth are more likely to be at places where these
substances are available," the survey reported.

Ecstasy also is referred to as MDMA, a stimulant similar to methamphetamine.

The resource center did not specifically poll students about meth use, but
Halleck said future addiction programs in the area could focus more on the
area's problem with the drug.

The survey showed most grades were using more in those areas, said Mark
Pogue, deputy director of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center.

More are using tobacco products other than cigarettes because youth forget
what past generations worried about, he said.

"They think this is a new thing, it's a safe thing and they don't know it's
a danger," he said.

Preventive programs especially target those ages 10 to 14 and what they're
doing between 3 and 6 p.m., Pogue said.

Brad Mitchell directs a program with that exact focus.

Afternoons R.O.C.K. is run through CHANCES locally to teach youth about
structuring their leisure time to avoid drug use.

Youth who are transitioning to middle school and then into high school are
entering areas where they might be more exposed to drugs. The program
educates them before they get there, Mitchell said.

Alcohol use declined in grades nine through 12, but the survey showed more
state sixth- and seventh-graders are binge drinking.

The state center will release figures on local community drug use within the
next several weeks, Pogue said.